I love scallops, but sometimes when I make them they are somewhat bitter. I expect the sweet taste they have when I get them from a restaurant. I know better than to over cook them. What am I doing wrong? Are they simply old, or are the reacting to whatever I am cooking them with (lemon or lime). I asked the person at the fish counter and he looked at me like I had two heads.

My guess is that the bitterness comes from the sodium tripolyphosphate that's used for processing "wet" scallops. It's well worth the effort and expense to find "dry" (unprocessed) scallops.
If your scallops are processed and will be too wet to sear, try coating them with ground dried mushrooms before cooking to make a flavorful crust.
I have also taken to slicing my scallops in half horizontally, making two thin discs. This speeds cooking, increases the surface area that's browned, and stretches an expensive ingredient.

I like the idea of using dried mushrooms for a crust.
Back to the sodium tripolyphosphate, can some of that be removed by soaking in fresh water? (I do think this could be the culprit, because if I buy them from Shaws, a local chain grocery store, that is when I fail to get good sweet scallops. If I buy them from the fish market they usually come out well. Of course they cost $15.00 a pound there)
Thanks for your advice.

Julia Child recommends dropping the scallops into boiling water for just a minute, draining, patting dry, then searing them to keep them from "releasing their liquid" into the pan. I haven't tried that yet, but am wondering if it harms their flavor?

Scallops are soaked in milk at the restaurant and patted dry on papertowel before searing. I'm sure it is done to plump them up a bit, but it also helps with the flavour. Coconut milk works to if you like.

I love the tinfoil step, any little trick to make clean up easier. I was reading the bun recipe earlier just before I was about to roll out some dough and was inspired by your picture using the silpat. I can't believe I haven't seen that somewhere before! Ingenius. Thank-you for your great site. I am going to read more now...

When I recently pan-seared scallops that were very fresh (without any chemical or fishy smell) - I had a hard time getting rid of the scallop smell in my house after. The scallops turned out sublime, but the lingering odor (for almost 2 days !) is really off-putting. As an engineer, can you recommend a way to avoid this in the future?

I used the overhead fan on my stove whie sauteeing, but even it seems to smell of scallops, and my husband thinks we polluted the air-conditioner filter! It has been ages since I pan-seared scallops, and now I remember why.

There are certain things that produce strong or long lasting smells when you cook them.
Artichokes, crab legs, and brussel sprouts just to name a few.

I've found the best way to minimize the amount of time that the scent lingers is to open up the house.
Admittedly, not always the most convenient method, but here is San Diego the weather makes it feasible year round.

Another way to avoid it is to use an outdoor grill with a side burner.
I often cook outside just because I enjoy it, but when I'm cooking something "stinky", it definitely has other benefits.

I am just now beginning to think outside the box, and this is such an exciting dish to try. I like it because it is different than what I normally cook, but looks like I can handle it. My husband will be so surprised (he is a professional chef!)

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject: Avoiding the problem with the scallops and water

Hey, Love your website - I use it all of the time, keep it up!

I saw your comment and picture of your scallops - I buy mine frozen from CostCo and I drain them on paper towel (I usually wait for the paper to soak up the liquid for 20 mins then swap them to a fresh piece of paper towel). I also thaw them (in the refrigerator overnight) on paper towel. I find this plus a HOT HOT pan results in no liquid at all, one minute a side is enough to cook them and produce a lovely brown color.

Hope this helps and I'd be interested to see how this works in the engineer's kitchen!

Great presentation! You make it look like it's very easy to prepare this meal and the photos are just tempting me to go and try the recipe now! I've been trying to cook scallops without any luck, hopefully when I try this recipe my family will be able to enjoy them

You should try to get your recipe (especially the red pepper sauce) be featured in a cookbook or cooking magazine or at least be reviewed so others can get to enjoy them more. Here is one site that I know reviews recipes and cookbooks http://www.cookingzines.com/. I get some wonderful recipes there too.

Though I'm no engineer, I found this recipe easy to follow and delicious. I couldn't stop eating the roasted peppers after peeling the skins! Smokey, sweet and so flavorful. The color, too, just beautiful. I didn't have sour cream so I added about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. I even liked it without adding any cream. I dried each of my scallops in a paper towel before searing. I seasoned with salt and pepper. I had mine with quinoa instead of pasta. Just fabulous. Thank you. I will be using this simple but delicious sauce for much more.

So after my sauce was blended, I had my sauce in one hand, and picked up the frying pan that I had sauteed the scallops in, and "accidentally" poured the sauce in to the frying pan and scraped up all the goodies on the bottom.

I let it simmer for a few minutes, and it changed the flavor quite a bit.

Awesome recipe, so easy and very flavourful. Tasted very fresh with the parsley.